Eleventh Hour: Stem Cell Hell
Two Hearts Aren’t Better Than One
“Eternal,” the January 29th episode of Eleventh Hour, is destined to become a classic for the American version of the series. Not only is it pretty darn freaky, even by consistently freaky Eleventh Hour standards, but it features Kyle XY daddy Bruce Thomas (Stephen Trager on that show) as a bad guy. What’s not to like?
So far this first season, viewers have been treated to all kinds of WTF?! scientific oddities right out of the best genre fiction, ranging from human cloning to cancer-curing miracle spring water to the reemergence of supposedly eradicated smallpox.
None of those plotlines comes close to topping last night’s, however, which begins with the discovery that a recently deceased 52-year-old man had somehow managed to grow two hearts. Mind you, this isn’t a birth defect. He wasn’t born with two hearts — he grew a second one as an adult. Yikes!
There is a reasonable-sounding — although I have no clue how fictitious or not — explanation for the strange deformity. Biophysicist Dr. Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell), on the upscale scene with his FBI partner/bodyguard Special Agent Rachel Young (Marley Shelton), concludes the second organ was created by abuse of stem cells bought from Thomas’ Dr. Niles Davison.
The dead millionaire was injecting the cord-blood stem cells directly for their Fountain of Youth properties, even after he learned doing so was making him grow body parts where there aren’t supposed to be any. The two hearts end up over-oxygenating his blood and causing him to suffocate, or something like that.
Later, the dead man’s wife, played by NYPD Blue and 90210’s Chandra West, suffocates, too, when she injects stem cells too deeply into her face, causing them to migrate and spawn a huge tumor in her throat. Gross but so, so fascinating.
Take a look at the autopsy that reveals the two hearts in the video clip below. That was one of the best storylines on TV all night. Of course, it’s also more than a little disgusting, so it doesn’t mix well with food. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if you haven’t already seen it.
Eleventh Hour currently airs Thursdays on CBS at 10pm EST
Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton/Eleventh Hour photo courtesy of CBS
I say “ELEVENTH HOUR” is by far the VERY BEST NEW SHOW THIS SEASON — under-recognized, under-publicized, under-promoted BUT STILL PUTTING UP IMPRESSIVE NIELSEN RATINGS AND WINNING ITS TIME-SLOT (AND OFTEN KEY DEMOS AS WELL) EVERY SINGLE WEEK!!!!
My question is: why doesn’t CBS seem to notice or care??????
…and when are they gonna’ officially pick this show up for a second season???????
I totally agree with you, Gojo. Eleventh Hour is must-see TV for me, although CBS seems to do nothing to promote it. I guess you can tell how good it is by how well it does in the ratings without any clear support.
Still, I’m sure CBS execs are quite aware of the show’s consistent performance, and I would be very, very, VERY surprised if it doesn’t get a Season Two pickup eventually.